UETCL COMMISSIONS KAWANDA-MASAKA POWER LINE, GUARANTEES STABLE POWER

The Uganda Electricity Transmission Company Limited (UETCL) has completed the construction and commissioning of the Kawanda-Masaka 220kV power transmission line to evacuate power from the Bujagali and other hydro power stations on the Nile to the central and western parts of Uganda.

The transmission line will also serve as a high voltage backbone to the proposed regional interconnection network between Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and DR Congo.

The project was jointly funded by the World Bank (IDA) under the Electricity Sector Development Program (ESDP) and the government of Uganda. The World Bank funded the construction works of the line and substation upgrades at kawanda and Masaka while the government met the compensation and resettlement of the affected persons.

The project components were the construction of 137km line from Kawanda to Masaka and related substations upgrade at Kawanda and Masaka as well as support to the rural electrification program.

The project cost was US$ 38.5 million by the World Bank and is intended to reinforce the capacity of the western transmission line to cater for the increasing demand in the towns of Masaka, Mbarara, Kasese, Fort Portal, Kabale, Bushenyi and the surrounding districts. Construction works of line was done by KEC International Limited and substations by Shandong Taikai Power Engineering Co and all works supervised by Intec Gopa from German.

The line is the second of its kind to be commissioned after the Bujagali-Kawanda 220kV transmission line 2012.